Today’s Reading: Jeremiah 3; Jeremiah 4; John 11
Scripture: Jeremiah 4:3-4
3 This is what the LORD says...
"Break up your unplowed ground
and do not sow among thorns.
4 Circumcise yourselves to the LORD,
circumcise your hearts...
Observation: God is speaking to Judah, his people that had been so unfaithful to him. He is telling them how they can be restored to relationship with him. The message is one of repentance and positive transformation. What I notice is that it takes work and determination. Breaking up hard earth that has not been plowed is really tough work. It's backbreaking. But the Lord tells them that they have to prepare the soil (their hearts) to receive the seed so that it may grow and produce a good result. "Do not sow among thorns," the Lord tells them. And he shifts the illustration to circumcision. We really must get rid of the thorns in our lives if we want to grow in God. And circumcision, the cutting away of the flesh, is the means that is required. There must be a cutting away of that which is not of God -- a removal of anything that is distracting or that draws us away from him.
Application: I must set myself to pay attention to anything in my life that is a thorn or snare and I must let the Lord cut it away. I must work hard to cultivate the soil of my life so that I am not taking what the Lord gives me and mixing in among unproductive and hurtful elements. It takes intentionality and vigilance and determination.
Prayer: Lord, help me to remove the thorns from my life that I may take your seed and put it in fertile soil. I want to be one in which you can sow good seed and produce an abundance.
This I pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.
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